First Meetings - Elladan and Elrohir Elrondion
by Kat-Anni
Summary: Deep into a snowstorm, an elfling goes missing. Somehow, the twins have to face yrch as well as a whole family of bears to remedy the situation. Certainly, this had not been their idea of a peaceful night watch. This is part of the series of 'people in lotr meet Legolas for the first time'. This time it's the twins' turn! Gen fic. Family bonding. Imladris fam.
1. The weary Messenger

_6th of August, 2019_

_Here's another one for you! I hope you enjoy it :3 It's been a wish of AceofShadows that I write this out so I hope she likes it!_

_Tell me what you think :)_

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**Chapter 1 - The weary messenger**

..

The clattering of hooves in the courtyard woke Elladan with a start. He'd been part of the watch per his father's request, but apparently his watch partner had let him sleep as he was wrapped in a blanket against the obvious cold and snow, but he brushed it off now to get up and see.

"Ro? Who is it?" Elladan asked, blinking his sleep away. Because of course his partner on watch was his brother. People in Imladris had long given up on wanting to assign them to different tasks.

"I do not know." Elrohir confessed.

"Don't tell me you fell asleep too? Father will have our heads!"

"I did not! But I don't know this elf. Come on." And without another word, Elrohir climbed down the icy ladder to the ground of the watchtower, hurrying to the courtyard with his robes flying behind him.

When they got there, Glorfindel was already present, talking to the new arrival. He shot them a brief glance they could only interpret as a scolding 'oh so you're not asleep after all', but it was not long as whatever the other elf said caught his attention more and made him frown deeply.

Both twins stepped closer, wanting to hear what was said but the howling wind around them made it hard to make out. The elf was dressed in dark colours, green and brown, and his brown hair as well as the lack of a saddle on his horse indicated just where exactly he might hail from.

Wood elf, Elladan communicated with his mind and Elrohir nodded.

Probably from Greenwood, his brother answered. It had always been more natural to them to communicate this way, but they had long learned to talk aloud as not to irritate others most of the time.

"We need to hurry. Is Lord Elrond awake?" the newcomer inquired when they were finally close enough to hear him.

"He is now." Came their father's voice as he descended the steps. He was still in his night robes but had put something over them for the biting cold. They may not be as vulnerable to temperatures as humans, but it was certainly deep winter and even in the valley the cold did not completely disappear. Beside him, their mother Celebrian stepped down, smiling at her sons gently before giving her full attention to the new arrival to their house.

"Galion. You're alone?" Elrond asked, as if this was in itself a source for concern. Elladan locked eyes with his twin, seeing that he was just as clueless who this elf was and also did not recognize the name or face.

"My Lord, my Lady" the elf apparently named Galion bowed. Elladan noticed how he was battered and bruised, in some places even cut. Had he been in a fight?

"There has been an orc attack on our party, my Lord. We need your help as a healer and your knowledge of the land. Especially for…" the elf caught himself, he was clearly still out of breath and now clenched his side. Elladan's eyes widened.

He was badly wounded! How had he not noticed this before? The wound in his side looked severe, blood escaping from between his fingers. How did he even ride all the way here?

A train of emotions flickered over Elrond's face. The worry for those elves, the shock of an Orc attack apparently that close to their lands, then the sight of the blood on the warrior's tunic he had also not noticed before.

"Elbereth. Get him to the healing wards!" Elrond ordered and immediately, the twins unfroze from their shock.

"Ai, Ada." They both said in unison, and his twin was by the elf's other side, ready to support him.

But both Elladan and Elrohir were shrugged away.

"No. Not yet. I need to- just let me…" he stubbornly stood again.

"Is Thranduil injured?" Elrond asked while the elf righted himself. So this elf was of the king's party? Their father knew well how stubborn the elven king was and it would not surprise the elven lord if he kept traveling even if injured.

"Not mortally. But the yrch took advantage of that blizzard and the prince…" he paused, swallowing. "He's missing."

A short silence befell them.

Elladan remembered their father telling them about the little woodland prince, the youngest Sindar to be born in middle earth, who lost his mother early to an Orc attack and who their own mother had obviously bonded with very early upon their meeting.

Celebrian gasped.

"Oh Legolas.." she whispered, her forehead creased with worry. "It's freezing in the mountains, on his own …did the Orcs...?"

"We do not know. Our king is refusing to leave the spot and is searching from there. He sent me ahead to get you as you may know the lands better and can point to any shelter. Or treat our injured."

"Of course. But you will stay here. Tell me where they are and I will send enough warriors to deal with it all. You have my word." Elrond locked eyes with him, the silver in it reassuring, and as soon as the lord said that and Galion described them the way, he collapsed.

Luckily, the twins had been ready for this and caught him, easily carrying him between them.

"We will bring him to the wards and join you before your departure." Elladan said while Elrohir went ahead. Elrond nodded.

"Ai. You two should come along as you know the mountains well." And then he called out orders for the others now gathered around, awoken from their beds at the noises. Glorfindel was already at work, gathering warriors and telling them a list of things to bring. They were readying everything one might need for a rescue mission as well as treating injured.

In the healing ward, Elladan and Elrohir buzzed around with two of the healers they woke for emergency duty. Working in sync was always helpful and it helped them again now, as they treated the dangerous wound in record time, setting the elf down for the rest he needed.

"He does not look like a warrior." Elladan commented when they wrapped the last bandage.

"That's because he's not." Glorfindel's voice sounded from the door. "He's Thranduil's head butler."

"Then why is he escorting him on a trip like this?" Elrohir asked.

"Galion goes where the royal family does nowadays." Glorfindel shrugged. "You will need these." He handed them their winter cloaks to wear over the armour. The twins nodded, shrugging them on.

"You won't be joining us?" they asked, confused. It had seemed that Glorfindel had rallied a lot of warriors and he knew the land just as well.

"Your father tasked me with guarding the valley. Since your mother is coming and with Arwen in Lorien none of your family will be here."

"Naneth is coming?" asked Elladan. Both of them exchanged perplexed gazes. Their mother was not shy to leave the house, it wasn't that, but usually if there was danger like it seemed to be here, she stayed behind as guard or to be ready when they came back. It was similar with their father, too, as he was normally the healer these days, but both twins knew their father had a long past that was tainted with more fighting than they had ever seen in their lives, so their expectation had been that he would come for sure, having been requested specifically.

"Indeed. She seemed quite smitten with the little prince last time when they visited Greenwood. I don't think anyone could keep her here even if they tried." He chuckled and followed them outside, bidding them goodbye in the courtyard where many horses were gathered. They spotted both their parents in heavy cloaks with their horses full of supplies and spare cloaks for the greenwood elves.

"Let's go." Elrond waved and with another clatter of hooves, much louder this time, they left the last homely house and disappeared into the heavy snowfall.

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_A first teaser! What're your thoughts? :)_


	2. A desperate chase

_August 7th, 2019_

_Hope you like this one! :D Tell me if you do :3_

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**A desperate chase**

When fall was making way for winter, the elves of Imladris had expected a mild season ahead, maybe a bit of snow, but generally a pleasant time. Which was why they had invited their friends from the Greenwood to join them in the solstice festivities. Well, their parents said 'friends', but they knew that Elrond had been estranged from Thranduil for quite some time. However, neither of them protested in their parent's wishes, as they had also been curious. After all, they had heard stories, but never actually seen the elven king and had only met very few wood elves in general, at least the ones from Greenwood the Great.

But the excitement in their hearts was squashed by this panicked arrival, and further dimmed by the heavy snowstorm they soon found themselves in. Did the elves truly have to fight off yrch in these horrid conditions? The twins exchanged a glance from under their arms held against the wind, clearly both thinking, hoping, that they would not find frozen or dead wood elves when they got to their destination.

Fortunately, when they did, there were a good amount of elves around and about, adorned with lighter coats but not seeming to bother to dress up further.

Their base camp was makeshift and under the cover of two trees that had clung to the mountainside, leaving a small cove where the wind was milder and a fire was glowing.

"Hold still" they heard a voice say. It was strange, how quiet the elves were being despite their obviously unsettled hearts. It was visible in their faces as the Imladris elves approached. They were quietly welcomed and their father was shown to the fire, the twins tagging along out of curiosity.

"I will not. My son is out there, patch it up as you will and I have to go-"

"I would listen to her." Elrond interrupted the king, who half whirled from the person he'd been turning towards. His gaze was irritated but also somehow icy at the same time, even when he spotted and recognized Elrond.

In fact, the twins did not quite believe what they saw when the king rolled his eyes and stubbornly lifted himself off the ground -in spite of the obviously very much still bleeding shoulder wound.

"It's you. Where is Galion?" he asked the female soldier next to him, who shrugged.

"I think he left some time ago."

"Yeah, said something about getting help." Said another one walking by, carrying bandages. Thranduil closed his eyes, gently massaging the bridge of his nose.

"That stubborn…oh well. Now that you're here, you might as well help. Elrond, my people need treatment. Do your soldiers know the lay of the land?" he vaguely glanced behind the lord and nodded a very short greeting to Celebrian, who nodded right back but didn't say anything else.

The twins stared, blinking.

They had never in their not-that-short lives heard anybody address their father this way, let alone command him around. And they had most certainly not expected Elrond to just nod in confirmation and walk off with the female soldier like he had expected to be greeted this way, their mother trailing right behind him.

"Um, we…" started Elrohir, but faltered. Maybe he was just as surprised that their parents had left them to handle the woodland king on their own. Elladan decided to quickly finish for his twin.

"We know the lay of the land best." He said, layering in as much confidence as possible.

Icy blue eyes focused on him and for a second, he wished he had not forced their attention his way. Even wounded and in crisis Thranduil looked truly imposing. He stood tall as a tree and his pale blond hair was surprisingly orderly under his wooden crown, which the twins found strangely void of gems or anything of that sort. It was no less impressive to behold.

"And you are?" the king asked with a tilt of his head and furrowed eyebrows.

"Elladan and Elrohir Elrondion, my Lord." They said in unison, and out of instinct maybe, bowed. Thranduil almost smiled, but caught himself quickly, waving the gesture away.

"No such formalities. But if you could point me and my soldiers to the most recently known orc nests and their frequently used passes around here that would be very helpful." He was handed a map by somebody in that very second and walked the twins over to a small makeshift table out of a very wide root. How convenient, that the tree provided shelter and also tables for this very situation. Thranduil unfolded the map and listened to their descriptions and declarations very carefully until they had gone through almost every possibility they could think of.

"Good. My guards are already looking on most of these paths. Will you accompany them in their search?" the king asked, his stare drilling into their grey eyes they had inherited from their own father.

"If my son is not found soon I do not know what I will do." He drew his hand through his hair next to the crown and the twins exchanged glances, not expecting such an open show of vulnerability.

"Of course, my Lord." Elladan said.

"Hannon-le, Elrondion. If you find any sign, alert my men through a birdcall and we will come to your location. Understood?"

The twins nodded quickly, the rush to get on with it instilled into them through the surroundings of rushing elves here and there. Then they hurried after the two soldiers also heading the way they had planned to go first, in the direction of a well-known cave in the mountains, sometimes housing yrch.

A birdcall? Elrohir asked his twin within his mind. Which one?

No idea, Elladan replied.

It was a quiet walk, at first. The two others introduced themselves as Wyrran and Fenian, but after the twin's own introduction, it was mostly silent except for the howling wind around them. Elladan could not say if the silence was tense or just practical.

"What exactly happened?" asked Elrohir, not being able to keep his curiosity tied up any longer. Elladan nudged him in the ribs, but he ignored his twin and looked on towards the other two expectantly. The soldiers glanced at them but then kept staring ahead. Both of them were of brown hair and in full armour under their coats, including the helmet. When they spoke, their voices were as low as possible over the still raging wind.

"The orc attacked us right after the last mountain pass. That in itself is not unusual or worrisome, but the ruckus caused an avalanche. In the chaos we lost track of several of them as well as of our prince and two guards, Alaf and Thallan. The orcs used the distraction to get through our defenses. Those ones we took care of." It was a very neutrally put recollection, but Elladan saw his fist balling as well as his jaw tighten, telling him that he was not as unmoved by the events as he wanted them to think.

"I see." Elladan replied, his voice just as quiet now.

They were nearing their first goal and with an exchanged glance and nod, began to draw their weapons. It was quick to spot the orc nest, as there was a fire going and they were apparently happy about...something, as there was laughter carried over to them from the wind.

Well that's not a good sign, Elrohir communicated. Elladan just nodded grimly as an answer and they whispered to the two wood-elves about ambushing the orcs.

From where they stood behind a rock they could see the entrance clearly and there weren't too many of them, maybe seven or eight. With the element of surprise they would be able to handle them easily between the four of them. The two wood-elves had agreed to cover them with arrows as the twins went in with their swords.

"We'll have a feast on our hands soon, lads." One of the yrch bellowed in their fowl speech.

They decided to take the followed howl from the other orcs as an opportunity to strike.

Seconds later, one of the orcs had a sword in his back, the next two an arrow. And soon the beasts fell, until the one who had hollowed his shout was the only one left.

"Wait!" Fenian called for Elrohir to stop and his sword stilled at the orc's throat.

"What have you done with them?!" the wood-elf whispered threateningly, grabbing the creature's tunic and jerking him to his own face and hunting knife.

"I don't speak your foul tongue, elf." The orc spat, black blood landing on Fenian's face and the sharp intake of air made it clear that the information was the only thing keeping the orc alive.

"I said what have you done with them?" he asked in a dated accent of common speak, his grip tightening around the hilt.

"I don't know what you're talking about, scum." The orc grinned.

Wyrran suddenly gasped from behind them, holding something. He had searched the premises and when he held it up, Fenian gaped as well, visibly tensing.

"Hir-nin" he whispered, thereby telling the twins that indeed, that smaller coat he was holding was the one owned by their crown prince.

"The owner of this cloak. Where is he?" the words were pressed between teeth and the knife at the orc's throat was almost cutting its skin already.

"Oh that one? We ate him. Cute little snack he was. All pretty blue eyes and blond hair…" the creature grinned mischievously.

Wyrran hit the orc in the face with full force. It was clear that they were shaken by the possibility that their prince would have ended up here, in this dirty hole with such dark creatures, afraid and alone and ultimately eaten.

"Do not lie to us! Where-are-they?!" he shouted, the anger on his face seeping off of him.

"Calm yourselves." Elrohir finally decided to intervene. "He is only trying to provoke you." He huffed, and Elladan nodded, looking around a bit more. There were no places to hold a prisoner here and the deeper parts of the cave were untouched by traces. If there had been an elf captive here, it had been a long time ago at the most.

"I know, just…if something happens to him-" he interrupted himself and closed his eyes.

"We will find him." Elladan said, trying to keep the reassurance in his voice. Why was the coat here, then?

"Was it that important, eh? The little runt." Another dirty laugh. "Should tell the others that we ate some kind of royal! His flesh was so tender and sweet-"

With the swing of Wyrran's knife, the orc's head separated from its shoulders.

"He could have given us a clue!" Elladan said, only half convinced and already searching for footsteps outside in the storm.

"He was lying. The prince is alive, I know it." Fenian put a hand on his companion's shoulder. Elrohir nodded.

"Probably. The way he was teasing…something doesn't match."

A short silence followed in which finally, Wyrran sighed. He wiped his knife of the orc blood and stared at it with a rage bubbling deeply within him.

"I was the closest to the prince, I should have been more careful…" he whispered, looking up at Fenian, who shook his head.

"No, you did what you could, we all did! There's no use blaming yourself now." He said and then lowered his voice in silvan, leaning closer to his companion and they were both closing their eyes, touching foreheads. From the entrance of the cave, Elladan gave them a side-glance but made no further comment.

Let us give them a moment, Elrohir decided.

Yeah., Elladan agreed, staring at the trail he had just found outside the cave. It was a scattered trace of footsteps and red blood, leading away from the cave.

"This way" Elladan finally instructed, interrupting the apparently intimate moment of reprieve between the two woodelves. They looked up as if caught from a trance, but they both followed Elladan's call. From the cave they only took the elfling's coat, which Wyrran held to his chest tightly.

What followed was another chase of prints through the persistent snowstorm, step after step of yrch, a few signs of fighting throughout, and a bit more red and black blood. A silhouette up ahead made them stop again.

They skitted to a halt in front of an elf in Greenwood's uniform, lying in the snow. Two orcs were next to him, who were clearly not alive any longer, judging by their decapitated heads.

"Oh no…Thallan!" Fenian exclaimed and ran forward, desperately searching for a pulse. It was pure wishful thinking, as from the blue lips and snow covering him as well as his natural glow being gone, it was very clear that he had passed to the halls. Not even counting the amount of blood that reddened the snow around him. Their companion had taken down two orcs and judging by the blood, injured several others. Both wood elves took a moment to take their companion's helmet off and grieved in the momentary silence, their fingers touching on top of one another on their companion's chest as if in a respectful send-off.

The twins both swallowed, but tried to keep a focus on their task. Not all hope was lost yet, after all.

"The tracks divide themselves here. It looks like they were chasing something." Elladan pointed in the two directions that the prints were dividing into. It was clear in their gazes how they feared that the thing they were chasing was their little prince, or their remaining companion.

Wyrran nodded. He followed the tracks with his eyes, then apparently decided something.

"We will call for backup and then follow the left trail. You two go to the right. Thallan cannot be helped any longer, but this is the closest we have gotten to a sign from the ones we lost. Thank you."

He hesitated, then turned around again.

"If you find our prince, please-" he drew in a deep breath and Elladan saw his desperation and fear surfacing that he had obviously hidden away to deal with the urgent situation. "Do what you can so he can come home." Fenian beside him nodded solemnly, and the twins returned the gesture, not knowing what to say. Maybe they were momentarily perplexed by the desperate plea, maybe it was just that they were touched by the love these two so clearly showed towards the little royal they had never met.

But they shook off their thoughts and decided to go on. The faster they got to wherever this trail led, the better.

Both groups slightly bowed to each other, then Elladan and Elrohir were off to the right, hurrying, and they saw the other two disappear into the still falling snow.

Soon, their path led them into a wood, the footsteps leading right through the treeline and then becoming a little fuzzy once they left the snow. Lucky for them, they were good trackers and the trail of orc blood sure helped to pin the creature's trail down.

And so they hurried into the forest, hands on their swords, ready to draw them against the yrch when needed.

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_Wonder what they'll find? :)_


	3. The Elrondiyn and the bears

_8th of August, 2019_

_ earthdragon: They can, but 1) there were only the two trees where they did their camp and those only saw the storm as well and 2) the next trees are the ones where they follow the trail to and until then they had to rely on the footsteps and the twin's hunting experience. Sorry if that was not clear!_

_This one's a bit shorter! But the next one'll be longer (and also the end :))_

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**The Elrondiyn and the bears**

**..**

The sound of black speech made them stop dead.

_Let's go around_, Elladan communicated.

_I'll take the right_, Elrohir answered, drawing his sword as quietly as possible.

What they came to see in the slowly opening clearing made both of them hesitate. Here, the snow was falling again and two tracks of footprints led into it.

At the end of it there was a lonely orc, his weapon out, pointing it at…

A bear.

A growling, furious female bear, a gigantic creature that snapped at him every time the orc tried to swing his weapon at it. From across the clearing, the twins shot each other curious glances.

Bears normally didn't confront yrch and the same went for the other way around.

The next thing that became visible was a second orc, who had apparently been stupid enough to try and run past the furious bear and was clearly slain by its talons and sharp teeth and now lay dead on the ground.

Okay, if the bear wasn't aggressive of its own right, what was it defending?

Elladan's elven eyes tried to spy past the struggle in the clearing. He spotted a cave not far away and in the dark alcove, after he could see through the snow and the light, two, no, three balls of fur could be seen, tightly curled up against the storm outside.

And cuddled in with the three smaller furballs was something that definitely did not look like a bear cub.

_He's there! Elrohir, he's in there! With the bear cubs!_

His twin caught his gaze, then it flew back to the cave, now also spotting the blond hair among the brown fur. They couldn't make out much else, as the elfling was wearing mostly brown and green and snuggled in very tightly.

_Is he okay?_ His twin asked, obviously also remembering from personal experience and every lesson taught to them that bears were not unfailingly friendly towards elves. Unlike other animals like birds or rabbits or even deer, big, predatory forest animals did not come into contact with elves often and were not guaranteed to not see them as something to eat.

Or protect their young from.

Another growl came from the bear and the orc cursed again. Elladan hesitated. He could help bring down the orc, but the bear was obviously furious and he feared that he would be handled just the same, if he entered the clearing with a weapon.

They need to get through the clearing to get to the cave though, was it was cut off by rocks on either side and the mountain in its back. For a short second he regretted to not have brought his bow. But then again, what would it have helped? He couldn't _shoot_ the bear.

_But maybe the orc_, he thought bitterly.

So Elladan took a deep breath, sheathed his sword and waited. It was a tense few minutes, where they both constantly kept themselves from jumping into the situation and instead letting the bear handle the orc. At one point, the orc actually got a slash in and injured the animal and the urge to jump up and handle this vile monster was bigger than they thought they could handle.

But the bear only let it fuel his rage and soon, the orc was ripped apart and dead as well, leaving the floor covered in black blood.

The twins waited some more, until the bear had calmed down a little. Then Elladan approached, slowly and carefully, his hands raised.

_What are you doing?! Get back there!_ Elrohir almost screamed into his head.

_We need to know if it's really him._ He just answered, slowly making eye contact with the bear, who immediately began growling again.

_He has blond hair! I don't think there's human children hiding in bear caves so the prince of Eryn Galen is pretty plausible!_, Elrohir laced his panic and worry into his mind's message, but Elladan shook it off. He needed to be sure. And they needed to get the princeling out of here.

"Calm. I am not your enemy. I seek to help your friend in there." He spoke aloud in elvish and pointed to the cave.

The growling got louder and the creature stepped closer.

"Okay, I'm stepping away, it's your cave, I get it." _What was his name again, Elrohir?!_ He screamed in his thoughts.

_Do you mean to wake him? You'll wake the other one, too! _

_What else should we do?! _

_Let us try the bird call. The Greenwood elves will know what to do. I hope. _

_Do it! It's not calming down._ Elladan scooted back further, hand still raised in defence and his heart racing in his chest. Shit…this did not look good. He had _not _planned to die next to two idiot _yrch_ because a bear apparently decided to kidnap or falsely adopt an elfling.

The bird call was loud, but over the wind, the twins both hoped it would even reach the elves' camp. Nevermind if it was even the right type of call.

"When I'm back far enough, you go in and get the prince" Elladan said aloud, his concentration for wordless communication was waning with the bear getting closer and closer and him having to inch back further and further.

"That's a horrible plan, brother!"

"Give me a better one! I do not want to end up like the orc! And I doubt wounding it will help anything!"

Elrohir visibly swallowed.

"I'm going to go back. Just…try not to die, _gwador_."

He was about to run for help, when a movement from the cave made him halt. A glimmer of blue-grey eyes stared back at them.

"Who are you?" a small voice asked.

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_Lil cliffy here, sorry not sorry ;D Thanks for reading! I'd love feedback :)_


	4. Bears and Friendship

_10th of August, 2019_

_earthdragon: Thanks! I edited it in this chapter and will edit the last chapter accordingly. That makes sense, I should have known that bit about bears. Thanks for pointing it out! I hope I didn't miss anything, feel free to point it out though._

_Last chapter! This one's way longer, Enjoy! ~_

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**Bears and Friendship**

..

"Stop pacing. It's not getting better that way."

No answer. Thranduil's pacing continued. Elrond sighed.

"Thranduil!" Elrond called out, louder this time.

"_What!?_" the icy reply was cutting through the air just as Thranduil's hair was whirling around to stare him down. The elven lord was not phased, he got up from beside the elf he was tending and walked over to the king.

"Your pacing will not help your son. Rest, and heal. Your wound might not be the worst, but it will not get better with you running around and fretting like this."

"He could be alone, buried under an avalanche! Or worse, captured by orcs. Or killed!" the shudder that went through his body sent him almost stumbling and Elrond was just in time to catch him and guide it onto a nearby root to sit on.

The wood elves that were still able were out and about, continuously reporting to him about what they found.

Elrond's hand squeezed Thranduil's shoulder, not knowing what to reply, or rather, not wanting to, as he felt all he would say was going to make it worse, not better.

A birdcall filtered through the storm and Thranduil's head flew up.

"That's the signal that something was found." He whispered, then he was up again, crouching position on the chair forgotten, and hurriedly searched around for his over-cloak and weapon.

"Galion!" he bellowed, then stopped, remembering that his butler was indeed not here, but in Imladris. A curse escaped his lips, but he did thank the two other elves that had apparently found what he was looking for and handed it to him.

Then he was out the door, leaving Elrond to wonder what had happened. But Elrond himself stayed behind to tend to the rest of the wounded, while several healthy or semi-healthy elves hurried after their king.

Thranduil stared down at Thallan's body and how his blood coloured the snow a sickly red colour.

"Where did Wyrran and Fenian go? And Elrond's sons?" he asked without taking his eyes off.

"They marked it. Elrond's sons are this way, they went in that direction." Said one of his men beside him, pointing to a few elven letters drawn into the snow, almost fading from the flesh one on top. Thranduil nodded slowly, thinking.

This did not bode well. His thoughts were spiralling with every possibility that there still was, when he spotted something in Thallan's hand. He frowned, and leaned down to the slain warrior, unfolding the cold fingers.

"Ai Elbereth." He heard himself whisper, then felt his knees give way and landed in the snow semi-gracefully.

"What is it, my king?" he heard the question, but it didn't register.

Slowly, he held up the object in his hand for his soldiers do see.

Their reaction was almost as bad. A gasp went through them and some held their hands to their chests or mouths in shock.

It was Legolas' broach, shaped like an oak leaf that his mother had made him early in life. He had never once taken it off, always very careful with it, especially for a little elfling.

What did this mean? Was he dead? Why did Thallan have the broach?

Thranduil's shoulders were sloped downwards and he didn't feel the tears coming before the first one hit the palm of his hand.

"_Hir-nin_!" a voice echoed in his head. He did not really hear it -again-, his thoughts spiralling in what-if and worst-case scenarios.

"There's a signal! From the path of the Elrondiyn"

"We must go and see." One other said. The hope in it was unmistakable.

Slowly, Thranduil's freezing hands closed around the object. His blurry vision came into focus as he blinked the tears away, glad that they did not freeze to his face or that none of his soldiers commented.

A cold determination filled him as he got to his feet.

"Draw your weapons. If those yrch have touched a hair on his head, I want them to suffer the consequences."

"_Ai, Ara-nin_." Came the unified echo from his soldiers. Their faces were mirroring his own fierceness.

Then they made their way towards the rightward path.

"We…we are the sons of Lord Elrond. Your father has send us to look for you.", Elladan explained, hand still out front to calm the animal.

Still, this icy glare. Well, he was definitely Thranduil's offspring, that was for sure.

"The trees say you let Bjorn get hurt."

_Bjorn?_ Elladan thought. Wait the trees _said_?

"Bjorn?" asked Elrohir out loud. The icy gaze shifted to him for a long stare.

"The bear." The elfling finally said, as if that should have been obvious. Elbereth, was it just him or was that bear cub also staring at them now, as if waiting for them to dare and step closer?

"Can you slowly come over here? Your Ada wants you safe at their camp." He tried to persuade the elfling, stretching out his hand to him.

"I could." He said, not moving an inch. "But you do not need to worry. I am safe. If Ada is looking for me, he will come and get me." He sounded so sure it was hard to press against his argument. "Why did you let Bjorn get hurt?" he asked further, cuddling into the small bears more. Elladan wished they had taken the child's coat so they may now offer it to him, to get him out from between those bears, who were now all collectively staring dangerously at them.

Ai, if they had to explain to Thranduil that his son had been eaten by bears…he did not even want to imagine that fallout.

"_Please_, princeling, get out of there!" he hissed after a tense second. Again, he had pointedly ignored the question.

"Why?" the child just called back. By all that was holy, he remembered how he hated Arwen's stubbornness at this age.

"So they do not eat you!" he finally snapped, glaring at the bear with all the sternness he found inside himself, his hand itching to go for his sword if the need arose.

A short second, there was silence, then, suddenly, a high ringing laughter filled the clearing.

"Eat me? Why would they do that, silly?"

Elladan was about to say 'because they are bears', but closed his mouth again. Because really, the bears were not attacking the elfling. It was clear that they were all awake now, even the mother, who now proceeded to lick the princeling's face tenderly. Elladan took a deep breath. Was it taste-testing the elfling?

"Your father-"

They were interrupted by a rustle to their right.

There, a whole swat of elves arose from the bushes and at their front, King Thranduil came through. Apparently, the king did not have to strain his eyes to see his son lying there, among the bears.

It was as if his heart was freed from under an Oliphaunt. The twins saw his shoulders relaxing, his composure easing and something akin to a smile adorning his face.

"_Tithen las-nin_." He whispered.

"_Ada_!" came the call back, and there was the mirrored smile in the elfling's face now, as he finally saw his father from behind the bear.

"King Thranduil, I would be careful-" started Elrohir, but Thranduil did not care. He walked forward as if in a daze, neared the bear in front of the cave and heard the Elrondiyn scream for him…

Until he lightly touched the bear's head.

Immediately, the creature was quiet. It closed its mouth, stopped to growl and instead, simply tilted its head as if listening.

Then it stepped aside.

Thranduil would never forget the look on the faces of those two twins. They blinked, opened their mouth in unison, just to close it again.

"How?" they both asked in unison. One of them was still poised in a defensive pose, pinned against a nearby tree. Thranduil smiled.

"A creature of the forest will never harm a wood-elf. If not provoked on purpose, of course." His gaze wandered over to the cave, which he now neared gracefully. "My son has found the safest place for him to be right now."

Did he sound a little bit too proud? Maybe.

The two sons of Elrond were still stiff with shock. Thranduil just…walked right past that bear. Elladan had tried to calm the beast down for what felt like an hour, and he just breezed past it, even touching its head.

"But…you're a Sindar, right?" asked Elrohir. Thranduil simply shrugged his shoulders.

"By birth, maybe. But I've lived with the Silvan elves for most of my life." He paused while he calmly walked forward. "Erin Galen is my home and a part of me, as it is of my people."

Elrohir nodded slowly, understanding. Curious, he wanted to walk to the cave too, kind of wanting to meet the little prince and the cubs, after all this trouble up to this point.

But the bear was right back in his face with a vengeance.

The growl almost sent him to his backside this time, he stumbled and could just barely catch himself when a silvan elf held him up. The ellyth tried to stifle her laugh, but she calmly turned to the bear and said something in the silvan tongue that Elladan didn't quite catch. The bear seemed troubled, but he calmed down enough to not growl at him anymore.

"Should I be offended?" he asked, shaking snow from his shoulders grumpily.

"Not really. He just doesn't like Noldor." The grin on her face was a little bit too cheeky and Elladan did certainly _not_ feel his ears turn an alarming shade of red.

"I told them you'd find me, Ada!" the high-pitched voice of a child rang through the clearing, cutting out their little conversation. Apparently before Thranduil could even reach him, the child had unravelled from the tight bundle he was In with the three bear cubs and sprang to his feet, lunging himself at his father.

Thranduil spun him around with a laugh, spurred on by the gladness that his son was safe. Legolas squeaked, laughing and as the childish sound of joy filled the air and the wood elves around them joined into their cheer, some in song, the snow lessened its vicious fall and the storm turned into a gentle breeze as the trees joined into their merriment.

Both twins turned their heads upward in amazement, as the biting of the cold around them subsided, so seemed the tension in their shoulders. Both of them wondered if it was the wood-elves subtle magic or nature just joining in their gladness. Elrohir stepped beside his brother gladly, pointedly trying to ignore the stare that the mother bear was giving them.

"What happened, little leaf?" asked Thranduil quietly. "I had you right beside me and then you were gone." The king stroked Legolas's hair as the elfling clung to him.

"I got pulled by an orc, then there was snow everywhere…They took my coat and said a few rude words, but Thallan found me! He distracted them while Alaf and I ran. Is he okay?" Legolas leaned back to search his father's gaze. "I didn't want to repeat last time so I tried to run away." He drew small circles in Thranduil's winter cloak while Thranduil himself was trying to find words and not let the emotions he felt at those words spill over.

Right, Elladan thought…with 'last time' he probably meant his mother's death. Had he been present for that? How horrible.

_He's so young_, Elrohir communicated and Elladan nodded.

_Far too young to be used to such horrors_, he answered, then decided to get to work by dragging the orc from the clearing and out of sight. The wood elves helped him while the two royals kept talking. Elladan didn't try to listen, but his hearing was good and he wasn't _not_ curious, so he might have just let it sink in.

"And you did prevent that." Thranduil proudly said, wiping the tears from his son's eyes. "Thallan gave me this for you." He held up the broach and the elfling made an excited squeal when he saw it.

"I thought I lost it." He mumbled while his father refastened it on his coat.

"I thought I lost _you_" this was almost not heard by the others, but it was met by fond glances and smiles being exchanged by those who did.

The little prince demanded to be let down now, and he greeted all the warriors in the clearing individually, some with words, some with hugs, apparently knowing instinctively what they preferred. Every single soldier present kneeled down to their charge and welcomed him back with them with obvious fondness. The twins tried to not feel awkward and keep themselves busy with searching the orc for any useful information on their origin and where they had come from.

A whisper went through the trees that the twins didn't hear and suddenly the little prince was in front of them, tilting his head.

Not saying a word.

The twins looked at each other, wondering if they missed him asking a question or something.

"Um, hi. You must be Legolas." Said Elrohir to break the awkward silence, glad he had finally remembered the prince's name, telling himself it was not because one of the soldiers called him thus in their greeting. Elladan looked up and tried to find Thranduil's gaze, but he was just watching, an amused smile barely contained. What was going on?

"We're Elladan and Elrohir Elrondion." Elladan introduced them, pointing with his hand to whom he named. For some reason, Legolas' frown only deepened. Then he suddenly whirled around to his father.

Thranduil right out laughed.

"No, I do not think they can." He answered as if there had been a question asked, making his way over to his son's position.

"We can't what?" Elladan asked, still _very_ confused.

"Hear the music of the trees."

"Oh." They both said. "No, we cannot." Elladan continued. He did not want to add 'unless we really concentrate'.

"Legolas sometimes speaks through them" Thranduil explained and Legolas turned back to them, curious.

"Does that mean you don't have their voices in your head all the time?" he asked. "Aren't you lonely?" the prince asked, firing questions at lightning speed as if he'd discovered a new curious thing to prod and learn everything about.

"No, we have each other." Elrohir stated bluntly. It was true, they were never really alone. Legolas nodded, as if those were wise words indeed.

"It must be so nice, having a sibling. Ava, Rela and Maya also seem so happy to have someone to play!"

"Who?"

"The bear cubs" Thranduil answered this time, pointing to them.

"Of course. My mistake." Elladan grinned. "I hope Bjorn is going to be okay. Do you think you can calm her so I can look at her wound?" maybe he was crazy, but he was not going to miss out on getting to know cool forest creatures like this. Well, if there was a lower chance of being torn apart like those yrch were.

Legolas nodded eagerly.

"Sure! I was going to ask if you were healers like your Ada!"

"We are." They said in unison. Legolas whirled around and suddenly, Elladan found his hand pulled forward, back towards Bjorn.

This time, there was almost no growling as the bear patiently listened to Legolas' instructions of sitting down and stretching out her hurt arm to Elladan. When the twin neared, it still glared and there was indeed still a growl, but it was low, and there was no further movement.

"Good, I think you're free to go, Bjorn!" Elladan said when he finished. Elrohir had hovered behind him protectively, ready to intervene with this foolish task if there was any trouble. But he dared not pull his weapon on the creature, of course.

So it happens that a giant bear ran around with an elven bandage for several days to come. Elladan had secured it and Legolas had hugged Bjorn goodbye.

Soon after, they made their way back to the temporary camp and it was almost cheerful. The wood-elves chanted a song and the air seemed lighter, the snow fluffier, the trees calm around them.

It was enchanting, their happiness to find their prince, and the twins soon found themselves smiling along, their steps lighter than usual on their way back up the mountain.

They met Wyrran and Fenian on their path, they had Alaf, the last missing warrior, sandwiched between them. Apparently, she had run in the other direction to distract the yrch, and had killed the remaining ones by outsmarting them in another part of the woods. Two had run off from the troop to run after Legolas in the last second. The ones they had found in the cave must have been the ones preparing for the feast ahead.

"I am so glad you are fine, my prince." Alaf said and Legolas promptly changed his position from Thranduil's to her arms, hugging her tightly before clinging right back to his father.

Thallan's body had been removed, but Legolas stared at the spot for a few moments of silence. He didn't ask anything, he just hugged his Ada tightly, closing his eyes and burying his face in his thick tunic.

"I'm cold" he whispered and Thranduil gently wrapped his cloak around him without a word before they continued onwards.

When Thallan's body was brought in, Elrond felt his blood run as cold as the snow around him, instantly fearing the worst for those that followed after the prince. He wasn't often optimistic, that was true, but seeing as his two sons had marched off with the other wood elves…his pessimistic side was certainly screaming a little louder right now.

He had to suppress the urge to draw his own sword and hurry after them, continuing to remind himself that by now, they were capable warriors able to take care of themselves.

"They are _fine_." Celebrian said, passing him. Elrond suppressed a small smile. As always, she knew exactly what he worried about.

"If you are certain, my love, then my worries are calmed." He answered and Celebrian gently tilted her head. Celebrian never disclosed how much of her mother's traits she inherited exactly.

Still, the next minutes felt like hours and when the elves on their watch announced that the king was coming back, he heard himself inquiring after his sons anyways.

"They are with him" the guard answered, and Elrond felt himself smile for the first time since being awakened that day.

"Ada" came their voice when they did approach camp a few moments later. "Nana." They both hugged their parents tightly, and Elrond had to set himself a mental note to ask them what happened when they got home. It wasn't that they were usually not clingy, but…he still remembered their little quarrel from last night about taking the watch that night, so this warm welcome was a little out of place to him.

"Aunt Celeb! Uncle Rond!" came a small voice from behind and Elrond had to suppress an even wider smile before he was tackled with a fierce hug around his mid-section. The twins rose their right eyebrows at the nicknames.

"Greetings, Legolas. I see you have brought the calmer weather with you." Elrond greeted, drawing his fingers through the elfling's blond hair. Truly, the snow storm outside had calmed somewhat, no howling winds were attacking their camp any longer.

"We are so glad you are safe" Celebrian said, kneeling down in the snow and properly hugging the child.

"You're not alone in that." Came Thranduil's voice from the entrance to their makeshift tent. He lay a hand on his son's shoulders and Legolas shot the twins a broad grin.

"Elladan made friends with a bear.", Legolas stated outright. Elrond's eyebrows rose in a mirror to his sons from a few seconds ago and his gaze flew to said son's startled face.

"Oh, did he now?"

"Mhm. He tried to save me from them." The giggle rising up the elfling's throat was not supressed this time and to Elladan's shame, his reddening ears could not be hidden, either.

"Just you wait, you little-" he threw himself at the elfling, hands first and ready to either strangle of tickle.

Legolas squealed with joy, then he hid inside Thranduil's robes. Elladan's quest to catch him and his urge to squeeze the laugh out of him –or tickle it out- was suppressed by the stern gaze of the elven king from above, his glare truly icy. The knowing smile that Legolas gave him from between his father's robes was so mischievous that Elladan almost had to gasp.

And here he thought that this elfling would be pompous. Here he'd assumed that it would be a spoiled, isolated brat. Maybe he had thought too much of the stories he heard about Oropher or the wild elves of the greenwood. Never would he have dreamed to see this sparkle in his eyes, the one he and his twin had worn countless times as children, the one expressing the feeling of triumph over a foe well pranked.

"When we get back to Imladris, we have to show you something." Elrohir just said, knowing smile matching his brother's exactly.

_Ai Elbereth_, was all that Elrond could think.

This smile did not bode well for his nerves.

Later in life, Elrond would have moments where he thought it was a mistake to have introduced these three to one another. Especially when one of them was at the end of a prank that the little one took part in or even was the mastermind of.

"Does he get this from you or from Cullasdis?" Elrond mumbled one time at dinner, his robe's arm frayed by a misplaced fire experiment.

Thranduil had only smiled and shrugged, but subtly winked at his son from the other side of the dining hall, who grinned back and disappeared around the corner with a bell-like laughter trailing behind him and the trees of Imladris rustling in joy.

Elladan and Elrohir had always thought back on their first encounter with the princeling with a mixture of fondness and embarrassment. And so their relationship with him was also mixed in the beginning. Interwoven feelings of resentment because of their clear differences in upbringing mixed with the many things they also had in common between them and also the fascination towards the unknown aspects in their differences, like the tree-walking and in general Legolas' close relationship with flora and fauna.

As the ages passed and Legolas' visits were first more frequent and then much less so, their communication was still upheld through letters and whenever they saw one another, they reunited as long lost friends, cumulating to that one faithful day where Legolas called them _gwador_ for the first time.

But maybe that story was something to be told on another day.

* * *

_That's it! I know the end is a bit abrupt but I didn't know how to end it without being too cheesy or too sudden. Let me know if you'd be interested to know about that day where Legolas called them 'gwador' for the first time :)) _

_Until then, THANKS for all the feedback and I'll be looking forward to your thoughts!_


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